Fire retarding device



Dec. 15, 1959 G. w. WYANT FIRE RETARDING DEVICE Filed Feb. 17, 1958/NVENTOR United States Patent FIRE RETARDING DEVICE Gerald W. Wyant,Montreal, Quebec, Canada Application February 17, 1958, Serial No.715,759

1 Claim. (Cl. 169--2) This invention relates to fire retarding devicesand more particularly to fire retarding devices for use with trashcontainers, such as waste paper and waste paper towel containers, ragcontainers and the like.

The invention consists in the combination of an ampule or ampules of agelatinous or plastic nature containing a fire extinguishing mediumcontained within a tray container mounted on the upper wall of a trashor waste paper receptacle, the tray having perforations or louvreswhereby the ampules of fire extinguishing medium are directly exposed tofire or high temperature generated within the waste receptacle. The traysupponting t-he ampules of fire extinguishing medium are generallysupported within the waste receptacles in such a manner that they arenot generally accessible to unauthorized persons but are readilyaccessible to authorized persons for the purpose of checking thecondition of the ampules or replacing them.

The object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, lightweightfire retarding device particularly adaptable for use in wastereceptacles in washrooms, garages and like public places.

A further object of the invention is to provide rep-laceable ampules ofa fire extinguishing medium which can be kept in quantity for immediatereplacement in the fire extinguisher.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ampule of agelatinous or plastic nature as a sealed container of a fireextinguishing medium which will disintegrate instantly to release itscontents when subjected to a pre determined temperature.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fire retarding deviceof small size which can readily be mounted within a waste receptacle outof sight of the public.

These and other objects of the invention. will be apparent from thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of the top portion of atypical trash receptacle showing a tray containing a number of ampulesof a fire extinguishing medium mounted on the under side of the top wallof the receptacle.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the fire retarding device mounted inplace in the receptacle and generally looking on the line 22 of Figure1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the fire retarding device showing a number ofampules in the tray.

Figure 4 is a vertical cross section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one end of a tray container showing ahorse shoe magnet fastened to the end of the tray.

Referring to the drawings, the fire retarding device 5 is in the form ofa tray 6, having a bottom wall 7, side walls 8 and end walls 9 and apair of end flanges 10 projecting outwards from the top edge of the endwalls 9. The bottom wall 7 of the tray 5 has a relatively large cuticeout portion 11 which is covered by the plate 12. This plate 12 can beeither perforated, slotted or have a series of louvres 13. In some casesthe plate 12 can be dispensed with and the bottom wall 7 of the tray canbe either perforated, slotted or louvred in the same manner as the plate12.

The tray 6 forms a carrier for the ampules 14 which are of a gelatinousor plastic nature and contain a fire extinguishing medium 15. A gelatinampule spray coated with a liquid cellulose, such as cellulose acetatelacquer or cellulose nitrate lacquer has been found to give verysatisfactory results as a container for the fire extinguishingmediurnlS. Such an ampule stands up to a considerable amount of handlingby maintenance people responsible for storing the ampules before use andfor replacing the ampules as required. The cellulose lacquer coating ofthe ampules excludes air and moisture from penetrating through thegelatin to the contained fire extinguishing medium '15. The fireextinguishing medium 15 can be of any element suitable for containing ina gelatin ampule and which will not gasify within the gelatin ampule byreason of its cellulose lacquer coating. under normal temperatureconditions. Such a fire extinguishing medium may be carbon tetrachlorideor from the group of chloro bromo methane fire extinguishing elementswhich are non-toxic and therefore particularly suitable for use in themanner described.

The tray 6 containing the ampules 14 can be supported within thereceptacle 16 in any convenient manner and is here shown in Figures 1and 2 as having two stud receiving apertures 17 and supported on twostuds 18 welded to the inner surface of the top wall 19 of thereceptacle and held secure by the wing-nuts 20. Another alternativemethod of holding the tray 6 in place is shown in Figure 5 in whichpieces of magnetized metal or horse shoe magnets 24 are fitted to theends of the tray 6. When magnets are used the flanges 10 of the traywould be eliminated. Such an arrangement would eliminate any difiicultyin fitting the tray 6 over the studs 18 and tightening up the wing-nuts20. The size of the tray 6 and the number of ampules 14 in the tray willdepend on the size of the receptacle 16 and the type of waste material21 to be stored in the receptacle.

As will be seen from Figure 1 of the drawings, the fire retarding device5 can only be reached by holding open the swing doors 22 of thereceptacle 16, which doors are generally weighted or spring loaded tostay in the closed position to seal the openings 23 of the receptacle.With the fire retarding device located as shown it is sufiicientlyconvenient to be serviced by authorized maintenance people and cannot bedamaged by the opening of the doors 22. In the position shown, the fireretarding device is out of sight of the general public and cannotreadily be pilfered.

By the use of a fire retarding device as above described, located withinwaste receptacles, many fires can be extinguished automatically beforeany serious damage is done. Should a lighted match or cigarette butt bedropped into the receptacle 16, the contents 21 will either start tosmolder or will flare up at once. If the contents start to smolder,sufficient heat will be generated within a few minutes which will heatthe tray 6 and at the same time melt the ampules 14 and gasify theliquid fire extinguishing medium. Such action usually takes place at atemperature range of F. to F. and, depending upon the nature of thecontents 21 such a temperature could be reached before an actual flareup of fire is started. On the other hand should the contents 21 be dryand a fire flare up immediately, the heat generated will cause theampules to brust and the liquid fire extinguishing medium to gasifywithin seconds, as such a fire has been known to generate a heat of 400F. within 60 seconds. Pro- Patented Dec. 15, 1959 vided there issufficient fire extinguishing medium volume in the ampules provided inthe fire retarding device for the size of the waste receptacle, the gasformed, being heavier than air, will fall down and smotherthe fireinimediately and, as the swing doors of the receptacle are normallyclosed, little or no effect of the momentary fire within the receptaclewill be noticeable. After a fire, the tray 6 can be quickly removed andthe residue of the ampules 14 cleaned out, new ampules inserted and thetray fitted back into the receptacle.

What 1 claim is:

In a fire extinguishing device for waste receptacles in which the wastereceptacle has a top wall and side access doors, the said fireextinguishing device comprising a removable rtray secured to the insidesurface of the top wall of the receptacle and shielded by the said sideaccess doors of the receptacle, the said tray forming with the top wallof the receptacle a fire retardant containing compartment,

a gelatinous fusable fire retardant container within said fire retardantcontaining compartment, the said tray having a series of louvredopenings in its downward facing side, the louvres of the said louvredopenings forming protective shields for the said gelatinous fusable fireretardant container.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNiTED STATES PATENTS530,057 Salberg Nov. 27, 1894 645,432 tohr Mar. 13, 1900 1,325,769 WelchDec. 23, 1919 1,832,056 Spencer Nov. 17, 1931 1,911,671 Blauvelt May 30,1933 2,003,300 Meigs June 4, 1935 2,273,515 Dachlauer Feb. 17, 19422,593,697 Reilly Apr. 22, 1952 2,708,595 Ludwig May 17, 1955

